Almost Perfect

By Brian Katcher
Delacorte Books for Young Readers, $17.99, 360 pages

High school senior Logan is having a hard time getting over his girlfriend of three years, who betrayed him by sleeping with another guy.  Logan finds himself obsessing over her, until Sage enters the scene.  New at his small town school, she is pretty in an unconventional way.  Logan is interested, but whenever he asks her out, she tells him she is not allowed to date, and her sister seems to be unnaturally protective of her.  One night Sage allows Logan to kiss her, and afterwards he finds out her dark secret: she is actually a boy.

“The reason we can’t date…the reason we can’t kiss…the reason why I was homeschooled…I’m a boy.”

Though her secret is revealed on page 99, the rest of the book explores the issues of transgender teens, and Logan’s vacillation between attraction and revulsion.  The author based the story on interviews with transgender teens, and the hardships they face every day.  This is not a common topic for YA novels, but it’s dealt with in a sensitive and enlightening way.  The story is moving, and both characters come across as likable and empathetic, even when Logan is alternately supportive and cruel to Sage.  Unlike most teenage guys, Logan makes an effort to understand Sage and her circumstances, with surprising results.

Reviewed by Leslie Wolfson